Framing Part 3 - Tywyn Sampler

I cannot, for the life of me, remember when I bought Tywyn Sampler.   I do know I was living in Austin, so sometime between 1996 and 1999, most likely.   I picked it up from Gingers, which at the time was a fantastic cross stitch shop, but has sadly closed.   They were on the bus route from UT, so I could visit without any problems.     I actually bought the chart with the threadpack, so it came with all of the fibres and silver dragon charm in it.

It was my first major silk piece, and it was also my very first cut work.  

I stitched it in 2001 and this piece was an utter joy to stitch from beginning to end.  I love the variegated silks and all of the fun specialty stitches, and the alphabet was fun, too (I used the Welsh instead of the English - though both were charted so you could choose).

I'm also thrilled that I could include my name in the piece as part of a band, rather than having to find some unobtrusive corner to stick my initials in.

Please excuse the overload, this is one of my favorite pieces of all time, and the frame job on it is even better than I thought it would be (not that I wasn't there when everything was picked out, but seeing it all together is just jaw droppingly gorgeous in my opinion)

The whole piece, on the wall... that paint shifts from that tan to a grey in the light and I love the piece on it.